


Forever?

by axtaxca



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 2x21, AU, Death, Friendship, M/M, Sad, just a different take
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 02:59:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14607786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axtaxca/pseuds/axtaxca
Summary: This was not a dream - not a nightmare. This was real life and the blood that covered his shaking hand proved that.





	Forever?

**Author's Note:**

> A little twist on what happened after Fangs got shot. I wanted to see Sweet Pea grieve in a different way. Enjoy.

For a brief moment it felt silent other than the gunshot ringing in his ears. It was like time had slowed around him and everyone but him had been put on pause. Everyone but him and _Fangs_. Sweet Pea wanted to believe what he was seeing wasn’t real. The blood spilling out and dampening Fangs’ shirt was some illusion. 

There was no faking the pain in Fangs’ eyes.

The realisation that this was real hit Sweet Pea in the chest so hard it felt like he couldn’t breathe and now he could hear the mania around them. This time he felt in slow motion whilst everyone around him had their ‘play’ button pressed. Yet, he managed to grab Fangs’ jacket in time with Jughead on his other side before Fangs fell to the floor completely, his other hand on his back to ease the fall. 

Hands were scrambling over his best friend’s bleeding abdomen to put pressure on the wound but really no one seemed to know what they were doing. Sweet Pea could only find himself holding Fangs’ hand and Fangs holding it tight. Out of pain? Fear? Both? Sweet Pea was starting to think that tight grip was his own hand trying to ground him to the situation. He was scared to let go in case somehow Fangs disappeared beneath him. In the fluster and the panic, Sweet Pea’s free hand met his bleeding abdomen to try and help. It felt warm. Wet. The distinct metallic stench of blood was trapped in Sweet Pea’s nostrils so bad he could taste it in the back of his throat. This was not a dream - not a nightmare. This was real life and the blood that covered his shaking hand proved that. 

“Get help!” Jughead yelled desperately at the top of his lungs, terrified. No one was going to help. People were so busy fighting, yelling, protesting. 

“Sweets,” Fangs practically whimpered through the unbearable pain through his body. Sweet Pea wished he could take it away. He’d take that bullet for Fangs. 

“I’m here, Fangs. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay. I promise. You’re safe.” Sweet Pea’s voice cracked and wobbled so much he was sure he was actually trying to reassure himself and not Fangs. But no matter how scared of dying Fangs was, he believed him. Sweet Pea wasn’t going to let some angry mob or stupid bullet kill him. 

“I love you, Fogarty. I love you, okay?” Sweet Pea wasn’t sure he’d ever said that out loud before, but he meant it. Fangs gave him a warm half smile because he loved him too. They were best friends. They were brothers. 

“Me, you and Tiny Topaz. Three Muskaqueers forever.” Fangs said it so quiet that he wasn’t sure Sweet Pea would hear over all the noise around them. 

~

_“I’m telling you, Fangs, you don’t need to make up your own gang. Join the Serpents. They’ll keep you safe.” Sweet Pea said, throwing a Serpent jacket in his best friend’s direction. Fangs caught it with his free hand, resting it over the back of a mostly broken school chair beside him. Southside High’s equipment was state of the art, of course. Fangs wasn’t sure anything was intact in their school but that didn’t matter really. Fangs didn’t think that making his own gang was such a bad idea! They would just smoke pot all day and skip school which sounded great to him._

_“You’d be a terrible leader.” Sweet Pea pointed out whilst he walked around the empty classroom until he ended up at the teacher’s desk to have a rummage through drawers. “You’d just be stoned all the time and eat candy.”_

_“First of all, you’re actually so rude because those are two leadership qualities I pride myself on,” Fangs said matter-of-factly whilst he swung onto the back legs of his chair and waved his Twizzler in his hand as though it proved a point. “Second of all, I can keep myself safe. And to top it all off, my gang is infinitely better already because I have the three best members and the best name.”_

_“Enlighten me.” Sweet Pea held a pencil in his hand, prepared to throw it when he didn’t like the answer._

_“Me, you, and Tiny Topaz. The Three Muskaqueers.”_

~

Getting from the street to the hospital had all been a bit of a blur. Before Sweet Pea got a chance to say any more promises, Fangs was whisked away. Snatched from him. He could feel his tears drying up on his cheeks because now he felt too empty to cry and even in a whole waiting room full of Serpents he felt completely and utterly alone. Not even his family could comfort him now. 

“Sit down, kid.” FP mumbled, dragging the Serpent teen to sit down rather than just standing and staring at the doors Fangs disappeared behind. 

It was going to be hours. Hours of that sick feeling bubbling in their stomachs and the odd tear threatening to spill out. No one said a word. They didn’t know what to say. Toni sat down beside Sweet Pea and rested her head on his arm as a sign of mutual comfort between them. Fangs was a fighter. He was strong. Sixth months from now, Fangs was going to be that guy who never shuts up about that one thing that happened. 

‘Remember when I was shot?’, ‘That reminds me of when I was shot!’, ‘Ha, you loser. You told me you _loved_ me when I got shot.’

Sweet Pea and Toni would punch him in the arm every time it was mentioned but no matter how irritating it was, it reminded them of a time where they were extremely lucky and grateful to have their friend around. 

The blood on Sweet Pea’s hand had dried but he had no intent of washing it off. He couldn’t be by Fangs’ side right now so he felt like this blood was as close as he could get to him. Silly, right? Most likely yet it was all he had. It helped ground him to the reality that all of this had really happened. 

Sweet Pea flexed his hand so the dried blood cracked over his palm and bits started to flake off. He instantly regretted it. He had to fidget or do something to help soothe his anxieties. Biting his nails worked but the blood would quite literally leave a bad taste in his mouth, as if it wasn’t dirty enough. 

~

_“Would you stop doing that?” Fangs stole a glance to his best friend making a lunch out of his fingernails then his eyes went straight back to Mortal Kombat. It was a pretty intense game and the couple of beers Fangs had gotten from the bar was definitely helping the game play. “It’s disgusting. I always tell you it’s dirty. Like licking a toilet seat.”_

_“What? Biting my nails? It’s an anxious habit. Anyway, last week you picked up a sandwich you dropped on a floor and you still ate it.” Sweet Pea defended but he did stop now that Fangs had made him conscious of it._

_“What are you so anxious about? It’s games day. Oh, wait, I see. You know you’re going to lose!” Fangs sneered which earned him a kick in the leg. Sunday at the Wyrm was always games day for them. The bar was at its most empty though it still smelt stale and sweaty. “Sandwiches have a five second rule, Sweets. Your nasty fingernails don’t.” Fangs started hitting the buttons more aggressively as thought it would help him win._

_Apparently it worked because suddenly Fangs was doing a little victory jig whilst he slammed his palm down on a button. “Finish him!” He bellowed, throwing his arms up to celebrate._

~

The moment the doctor came back, Sweet Pea got up. This was it. Everything was going to be okay. “I need to see him.” Sweet Pea demanded.

The sad look he got in response couldn’t be real. “I need to see him.” Sweet Pea’s voice was more strained as he took a step to go find his best friend. A hand went to his chest to stop him and the doctor shook his head. 

“You can’t. He didn’t-”

Sweet Pea felt like he was drowning. This wasn’t _real._ He didn’t get to say goodbye. He didn’t get to say goodbye to his best friend. FP had put his hands on Sweet Pea’s shoulders to keep him there. 

“There isn’t anything we could do. I’m really sorry.”

“No,” This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. _“NO!”_ Fangs would come around the corner any second with a shit eating grin on his face and he’d laugh and say: _‘did you miss me? I got you good, Sweets. You never break a promise.’_ But Sweet Pea’s eyes were so blurred with tears that he wasn’t even sure he’d see him. 

He screamed and fought against FP’s grip as though it was going to make the difference. Fangs had to be okay. Sweet Pea promised him he was going to be okay. Sweet Pea _needed_ him to be okay. 

“Fangs!” Sweet Pea could scream and sob as loud as he liked but Fangs wasn’t coming back. He fought until he felt like he was going to suffocate, or even throw up and his legs gave out from underneath him. FP didn’t let him fall on his own just like Sweet Pea hadn’t for Fangs. FP just cradled the mess of a boy on the floor. 

His best friend. His brother. His partner in crime. Fangs promised it would be the three of them forever.

_“I didn’t get to say goodbye.”_


End file.
